The Islamic State militant group released on message on Sunday warning Sunnis that they would attack polling stations during upcoming national elections on May 12. Meanwhile, Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr encouraged citizens to vote in order to weed out corruption in the current government.
At least four people were killed, and five were wounded in recent violence:
Iraqi authorities announced the death of a leading ISIS militant, Abu Luqman al-Suri, during airstrikes on Syria.
A bomb in Qaim killed one person and wounded two others.
In Baaj, gunmen killed a man and wounded his brother.
A man was killed when an old landmine exploded near the Iranian border close to Basra.
A roadside bomb near Mirbat wounded a truck driver.
One security member was wounded when he came across a roadside bomb near Mukhisa.
In other news:
There is now a conflicting report concerning three Peshmerga members who were rescued from ISIS militants by Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) forces. Kawa Ahmad, the director of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) branch office in Kirkuk says that the trio is actually a group of civilians who had been held by Shi’ite militia forces. The PUK and the KDP are rival political groups.
Iraqi authorities announced the discovery of a long tunnel near Qaim that assisted militants coming in from Syria.
